It Will Be Me
by scoob2222
Summary: Jack has been captured and Chloe will anything to find him. Jack and Chloe all the way
1. Chapter 1

_CTU—9 months after Jack is kidnapped_

"I can't believe this," Chloe raved at them as she looked around the room, "That's it. You're just done looking for him. You've just decided Jack is dead, even though there is no Intel to support that."

"Chloe," Bill began, his voice soft, "We all want to find Jack; you know we do, but we have to be realistic. We have spent almost 9 months looking for him and we are no closer. We have no proof he is dead, but we also have no proof he is alive. We cannot spend any more money searching for one man."

Chloe huffed, because it was clear she was going to get nowhere in this room, "Fine. You do what you want, but I'm not stopping until I find Jack—ALIVE—and bring him home." She hurried out of the room, surprised when she heard footsteps behind her, but not surprised to see it was Audrey that trailed her. "I meant it," Chloe repeated, "Really, I will keep looking no matter what."

Audrey stopped, waited a beat and then, "Maybe they're right."

"What? How can you say that? You and Jack were..."

"Yeah we were on the verge of happily ever after, but…Chloe, let's be honest. The chances of Jack being alive are practically non-existent. We could search forever and find nothing." She took a deep breath, "And…"

"And…"

"I've…I've met someone else. He's not Jack, no one will ever be Jack, but he's sweet and kind and he makes me happy and well…"

"You want to get on with your life…you want to have a life again." Chloe knew the feeling intimately. She was never the life of the party kind of girl, but since Jack was gone, it was all business. How could she feel joy, feel any kind of peace when he was somewhere hurting—dying maybe?

"I know it sounds selfish, but Jack would want me to move on. And he would want you to move on too. He really cared for you Chloe and he owed you so much. He was so grateful for everything you did."

Chloe wanted to rail back at her for those words. Sure, Jack always, eventually showed gratitude for what she did. Even if he didn't say it, she felt it. But he wasn't grateful, he didn't owe her. They were friends—there were no debts between friends.

"I appreciate you want to move on Audrey, and maybe Jack would want me to do that, but I just can't. I have to try, I have to do everything I can to try and help him. Everything."

Audrey nodded, "Listen, I'm going back to Washington tonight, but if you get any leads or if I can help, I, uh," she choked up for a moment, "I still have hope you know, just…"

"I understand. I'll let you know if I find anything out."

Audrey nodded and turned to leave.

When she was gone Chloe made herself take five deep breaths. She was the only one left. The only one who believed Jack was alive. But she did still believe and she would still do whatever it took to get him back, whatever it took.

_Somewhere in China_

"What is the progress with Bauer?"

"Sir, nothing has changed. He continues to reject our conditioning program."

"Keep up the efforts. I want him under control."

"Yes sir."

As the younger soldier left, the older man turned away in frustration. It had been nine months and progress with Bauer was nearly non-existent. He had told them nothing about his country, despite months of torture. Then, when they started the program, he had resisted at every turn. If they didn't break him soon, they would have to get rid of him.

_In the same building in China_

Jack lay on the floor of his cell desperately trying to resist the images and memories trying to take root in his brain. He repeated the words that had become his mantra for the last few months, "My name is Jack Bauer. I work for the United States of America." He said it over and over and when it became nothing but words he sought out faces in his mind, people to remember. He tried to concentrate on the face of Terri, but it was hazy in his mind, so long since he'd seen it. He thought of his daughter, but her image came with regret and he needed peace. He tried in vain to bring Audrey's face to his mind, but it wouldn't stick. Finally, when he felt like giving up, a face flashed in his mind and held. "Chloe," he rasped, "Chloe."


	2. Chapter 2

She was a fairly simple woman. She never really wanted much--her computer, her favorite books, and decent food. But at this point her wants had dwindled down to two. First--find Jack. Second--sleep for a year.

She had never been a person that needed much sleep. A few hours here and there caught her up. She could go for days at a time without sleep when she needed to, and she often needed to. But 9 months of nothing but snatches of sleep in between hours at a computer were wearing on her body and mind. Every time she thought about sleeping for 8 full hours she thought of Jack, being tortured and her missing vital information because she had been sleeping.

It made it pretty much impossible to even consider sleep.

But she just wasn't sure how much longer she could go on. Working all day, searching all night, with no help from CTU. Bill was nice enough to look the other way when she used their resources (on the rare occasion she couldn't completely shield what she was doing) but she needed manpower behind her and she had none.

She was about to close her eyes. She set her alarm for an hour later so she could search another hour before work when suddenly a suspicious e-mail popped up. She read it once, twice, and then picked up the phone. The person answered after two rings, "Chase, I need your help."

In a small apartment in Sacramento, Chase was fast asleep, when his phone rang. Quickly he picked it up, hoping it didn't wake Angela, before barking a "hello" into the phone.

"Chase, I need your help."

"Chloe, it's," he glanced over at his alarm clock, "4 in the morning. What's going on?"

"I don't have time to explain it all. I just need you to come here right now."

"Chloe," years of training had him up and out of bed in less than a moment. Quickly he moved to the closet to throw on clothes, "What's wrong? Are you okay? Did someone hurt you?"

"What?" she said, and he was relieved to hear her normal sarcastic voice again, "No, not me. Jack. I found him."

Chase stopped dead, sweater half way over his head, "Oh, Chloe, you have to stop doing this."

"No, no, look I know that I had a few false alarms before, but this is the real deal. I think it's the fact that CTU closed the case. It made them sloppy. I need you to help me get Jack out of there."

"So, you want me and you to go to China and save Jack from people who have held him hostage for 9 months. Sure, Chlo, I'll be right over."

He could practically hear her frowning at him, "You don't have to come. I just need some manpower to actually go in. I know you know people. Just get me in contact with them and I'll..."

"Chloe, the kind of men I know are expensive and dangerous."

"Well, I've got money and they'll need to be dangerous and a little crazy to go in there. So are you going to help me?"

"I'm talking a lot of money, Chloe, I don't think."

"I cleared out my bank accounts. I got paid a lot of money to design security systems and I saved every cent for ten years. Trust me, I have the money."

For a moment there was pure silence, "Do you really know what you're getting into Chloe? This is a huge risk to take for someone."

"It's not for someone," she began and finished in a quiet voice, "It's for Jack."

Chase sighed and dropped his head in defeat.

"Fine, fine, obviously you're going to do this with or without me, so, the only way you are going to China is with me. Sit tight, I'll be there as soon as possible."

"Thank you, Chase."

"Fine, obviously Mr. Bauer is not responding to our threats or the treatment. Stop feeding him altogether and leave him alone for a week. If he isn't weak enough to respond then it is a lost cause and he is of no further use.


	3. Chapter 3

Less than 12 hours after Chloe had made the call to Chase she was in a helicopter on her way to the freight ship that Jack had been on for a least a few months, if not the entire time he was gone. Using satellites and the information she found when she hacked into the Chinese's security system she helped lead Chase and nearly twenty other men get safely aboard and get Jack to safety.

That was the way she summed up the mission to Buchanan later. She left out the men who tried to take down her helicopter, the five men that hadn't return alive and the fact that Jack had been to weak it had taken four grown men to carry him to her. Or that he'd been so bruised and bloody, so still when she saw him that for one second she had thought he was dead. She was sure it had been the longest second of her life waiting for his chest to move up and down, proof that he could breathe proof that she hadn't failed him.

By the time they got him to the hospital Mr. Buchanan and Karen Hayes and Martha Logan were waiting for her. She had calmly told them that as soon as she had news on Jack they could arrest her and she would tell them whatever they wanted to know. A smiling Martha Logan told her that she was not being arrested and President Palmer wanted to personally thank her for her efforts in saving Jack. A few minutes later the doctor came out to tell everyone that Jack was alive, and though it would take a long time for him to completely recover physically, to say nothing of his mental wounds, he was strong, and he was going to make it. Chloe had been so happy she'd actually hugged Mr. Buchanan….and then she passed out.

When she came to she was in a hospital bed and Chase was watching her, concern written all over her face.

"Hey, Chloe, how are you feeling?"

"Like crap, and don't call me Chloe."

He smiled, but his face became concerned again, "The doctor said you'll be fine. You're just dehydrated and exhausted. How much sleep have you been getting?"

"Enough."

"Damn it Chloe, not enough, obviously, since you just passed out two hours ago."

"Okay, maybe not enough, but, Chase, how could I sleep, when Jack was out there being tortured. Ever minute I slept could be a minute he was drifting farther away, even being killed. I was the only one looking. So, I need to get some sleep now and I will, but I won't apologize for doing whatever it took to get Jack home. How is he by the way?"

"How is…" Chase stopped and stared at her, "You're in love with him."

"No."

"You are," he said it and let out a slightly hysterical laugh, "Oh, I cannot believe this. You're in love with Jack Bauer."

"Would you lower your voice?" she hissed as she waved her arm and gestured for him to come sit back down next to her. He was currently pacing by the door, where anyone could hear his lunatic ravings.

He did as she asked, but wouldn't let up, "Don't bother lying, it's written all over you face."

"Okay, so you figured me out. Rah-rah for Chase. Now, I want you forget this conversation ever happened?"

"The conversation about how you're in love with Jack."

"CHASE!" she screeched and then lowered her voice, "Stop saying that. Seriously it's not funny!" Suddenly she wasn't just upset at someone hearing, she was downright freaking out.

"Okay," he said, his voice soft, "I'm sorry. I won't tell anyone, Chloe really, just clam down."

She hadn't even realized she'd started crying. The past few months, the past few hours, and finally hearing her feelings out loud had all rushed up on her, "If anyone hears that, if anyone tells him, I'd…I'd just die Chase. I'd have to run far away and never come back."

"Chloe…"

"I'm serious. He doesn't feel like that about me. He's in love with Audrey and I'm fine with that really. It's enough for me just to be around him, but if he knew how I felt, it…it would be too much."

"Okay, I'm sorry; I didn't mean to make fun of you. I won't tell Jack, or anyone else. I promise."

"Good, now how is he?"

Chase shook his head, she had it worse than even she knew, and "He's still stable. He still hasn't regained consciousness, but the doctors think that's normal considering the amount of damage done to his body and mind."

"Good."

"Listen, I've got my mom watching Angela, so I thought I'd stay for a few days. Just to make sure you're back on your feet. And I'd like to talk to Jack before I go. Is it all right if I stay with you?"

"Yeah of course. Are they going to let me out of here soon?"

"The doctor is going to come check on you. He said he could probably let you out, if you have some supervision, which would be me. And don't even argue that you don't need it. You are going to go home and rest."

"But…"

"I know you want to see Jack, but he defiantly won't wake up until tomorrow, if not later. You let me take you home, feed you some real food and then you get a full eight hours of sleep and I will bring you back here tomorrow."

Chloe gave him her nastiest glare, but having no real choice agreed.

"Okay, I'm going to go get the doctor. Then we're going to spring you."

"Well, hurry up. I'm already tired of being here."

Chase nodded, glad Chloe's was getting back to her sarcastic self. He walked out the door and literally ran straight into someone. He lifted his arms to right the woman before she fell when he heard a voice he knew all too well, "Chase." He looked up and saw that he'd run straight into Kim Bauer.


End file.
